Savior
by AkiraDawn
Summary: Sure, they had been through some hard times. This may be the hardest of times. Just when life couldn't have gotten any more perfect, it turned into another challenge. Was it the final sick gift of life left behind? Or the start of something new?
1. News

Savior

_I Just Want to Be So Much_

I don't own Final Fantasy, it belongs to Square Enix

The next I my 'Strife Family' series and might I add…quite a heavy installment.

"Leo! Leo! I need…aaagghhh!" Tifa semi-screamed, dropping a glass. It shattered to the floor. Her cry alarmed Leo, the cook and the patrons of the bar.

"Tifa! Tifa!" The cook yelled at her. "Oh my god!' he yelled mortified. He ran to the back of the kitchen, pale as a sheet and picked up the phone. "Hello! Hello! I need an ambulance! She's bleeding! She's bleeding! Oh god, the blood. I need help!"

* * *

><p>"Hi, am I speaking to a Mr. Cloud Strife?" a woman asked over the phone.<p>

"Yes, this is Cloud Strife." Cloud said attempting to multi-task and click on mailing orders on his computer screen at the same time.

"Hello, Mr. Strife. My name is Naomi and I'm the Head Nurse of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Intensive Care Unit of the Midgar Comprehensive Medical Center Women's Division. I by no means wish to alarm you but your wife was admitted to our care approximately two hours ago. She's stable and I'm aware that you are her husband therefore I wanted to contact you in order to let you know she is under our care." There was silence on the phone. "….Mr. Strife?" the nurse repeated.

"Wh…what's…what's going on?" Cloud asked in a subdued panic.

"Sir, we'll explain everything that we know thus far upon your arrival." The nurse explained.

"Please….please tell her I'm on my way." Cloud didn't wait for the nurse to say goodbye. He just hit the cut off button of his phone and proceeded to quickly dial Yuffie. It was by the grace of god that today was Yuffie's day off. He barely let Yuffie answer the phone. "Yuffie, I need you to pick up the kids from school and take them home with you until I call you. Don't ask questions just do it, please! I don't…I don't know Yuffie, Tifa was admitted to the hospital an hour ago. I don't…know…Yuffie! Just…just do it please. I'll call you. Thanks." Cloud practically yelled at her. He frantically grabbed his keys, and flew out the door without saying a word to anyone.

* * *

><p>Tifa was asleep when Cloud arrived. She looked pale and exhausted. He didn't think it a good idea to wake her so he returned to the nurse's station. "Hi, excuse me. Cloud Strife. I was called about twenty minutes ago. My wife is in room 3114 she was admitted a while ago?" he told one of the nurses. "What's going on?"<p>

"Hello, Mr. Strife. Come with me and I'll explain everything. There's nothing to worry about. Your wife will be just fine." The nurse waited until she had Cloud in Tifa's room with the door closed before proceeding further. "Have a seat, let me get her chart. Mr. Strife, it seems that your wife was brought in to us bleeding profusely. She's lost a lot of blood sir and she's going to be weak for a few days. We have her stable now, and she's received a little over a pint of blood." The nurse explained. Cloud wanted to cut her off and yell at her to just tell him what the hell was wrong, but he wanted to know everything.

"What happened exactly? She's been complaining these past three weeks I think it's been of intense pain in like…like down here? Her lower abdomen, I guess?" Cloud said putting his hand where Tifa had complained. The nurse took her glasses off and looked at Cloud.

"Mr. Strife…your wife had a miscarriage. She was nine weeks pregnant. She didn't know. The doctor will share all of the details with you. But that's what happened and that explains all the blood loss. Mr. Strife, are you okay?" Cloud could hardly catch his breath and the nurse could nearly see through the paleness of his skin.

"What…wha….how….what do you MEAN she was 9 WEEKS PREGNANT! How is that…HOW! She's been on the pill for….HOW?" he asked incoherently.

"The doctor will explain more but before your wife fell asleep she spoke with the doctor and she said something about being on an anti-biotic about two months ago? Anti-biotics counteract the effects of birth control. That's likely when she conceived. Mr. Strife, she miscarried because the embryo was poisoned with a combination of Mako Energy and remnants of Geostigma…that's something we haven't seen in this hospital in….well….about four years. I'll page for the doctor and he'll come talk to you more. Would you like some water, sir?" the nurse asked, seeing as how Cloud was about to either have a panic attack or…an even bigger panic attack.

"Please…" he barely uttered. The nurse left to call the doctor. Cloud sat there looking at Tifa, fairly certain his heart was about to beat out of his chest. The nurse came right back, handing a bottle of water over to Cloud. "…thank you…" his voice was still hardly audible.

"I've paged the doctor. He'll show you the x-rays taken of your wife, answer any questions you have and explain everything in greater detail. It's going to be alright, Mr. Strife." The nurse assured him. Cloud watched Tifa sleep as he guzzled nearly half of the bottle down. He stood up and walked over to her. He noticed her wedding band, her engagement ring and her earrings in a small plastic cup labeled T. STRIFE. They must have been placed there from her x-rays. Cloud picked up the container and shoved it in his pocket: TOOK TIFA'S DIAMONDS he jotted down on a nearby notepad. Like he trusted hospital personal with 22,000 gil worth of diamonds. Well, it _was_ a hospital and hospitals weren't exactly known for their high crime rates but he felt better holding on to them. He looked at the dry erase board near Tifa's bed: TODAY'S DATE: 10/26

HEAD NURSE: NAOMI

DUTY NURSE: LIZ/RIKO

DOCTOR: DR. CHANDRA

Cloud read the small list of drugs she was currently being administered. The IV in her arm was merely fluid to prevent dehydration. There was a knock on the doorframe.

"Hello! Mr. Strife?" the doctor walked in. Dr. Emil Chandra. Please, have a seat. I'm sure you must have many questions, yes?" the doctor said motioning toward the chair near Tifa's side of the room. Cloud had no idea who was on the other side of the thin curtain, or why.

"Hi, hi…yeah…I…I can't….she miscarried? A _baby_! My wife was pregnant?" Cloud still couldn't wrap his mind around this.

"She was nine weeks, yes. Now, your wife told me that she had been taking an anti-biotic for a sinus infection? Can you tell me more about that?" The doctor asked.

"Uh yeah, she uh…see friends of ours go married in Rocket Town, up north about three weeks ago. About a month before going to the wedding, she had been talking medicine for yeah…a sinus infection. She was on it….I don't know…maybe….two months ago. I think the nurse said that too?" Cloud answered him.

"Mmm. Yes. Well, during that three week time frame of taking the anti-biotic is when she got pregnant. Now, with that being said sir, your wife would have never carried this child to term. That leads me to you. Tell me about your health history." The doctor pulled his pen from his pocket.

"Well, I worked for the Shinra Electric Power Company years ago. During a mission to my hometown of Nibelheim, I was exposed to an extremely high dose of Mako Energy. Oh, that was in 1994. I was in an unconscious state for months because I was so poisoned by its effects. But, I get a physical every year…I mean, every single year to monitor Mako presence in my body and in every fluid in my body. I just had a physical two weeks ago. I can have the results faxed to you if you want to see them." Cloud was thinking more logically now that things were beginning to make sense. The doctor wrote some things down.

"Yes, I'd like to see it as well as run some tests of my own. Tell me, Cloud, have you or your wife ever come in contact with Geostigma in the past?" the doctor asked.

"Yes, I contracted it in 2008. But, my son had Geostigma as well." He explained.

"Your son? Is he adopted?" the doctor looked puzzled.

"Yeah." Cloud explained.

"Ah, that makes more sense to me." The doctor shoved his clipboard aside. "Please, allow me to show you some ultrasound and x-ray images. When your wife was found, the emergency team stated that the blood was immense and it was partially black. A woman who miscarries bleeds heavily because the amniotic sac breaks. Now, this is an image of the broken amniotic sac. Here's where it was implanted and as you can see, the image shows this entire area being very, very black; looking almost like an ink stain. We also took this thermal image. Here you can clearly see how red this entire area is; indicating it was very hot. What we did; was run tests on what was left of the residual fluid and discovered a Mako concentration of over 85 percent. There was a Geostigma presence of approximately 3 percent. What we had to do; was scrape your wife of the infected tissue. She'll be fine. There's no worry for her health. All the infected area is gone and she's taking medication to avoid infection. Your wife had none of the early pregnancy symptoms because they were being masked by the Mako slightly altering her hormone levels. The thing is, Cloud…I hope you and your wife weren't planning to have any children; because you can't. And pardon me, sir….but when I say you can't…I mean YOU can't. I'm sorry." The doctor finished. Cloud took a minute to absorb all this.

"Wait…wait. Back up just a minute. You said the embryo was poisoned…last year the presence of Mako in my blood was….well it was like non-existent. How is that possible?" It was a fair question.

"There may be no Mako presence, but the Mako has already done it's damage to your cells years ago. There's simply been a very recent mutation, Cloud. That's why they are called mutations; we don't particularly understand nor know what triggers them. As for the Geostigma presence in the embryo; its merely the footprint; so to speak; that's left with you." The doctor further explained.

"So…me and Tifa…we can never have any children." Cloud asked of him.

"Not with your DNA, sir. Do you have any questions for me?" The doctor asked.

"Yeah…have you ever seen anything like this happen before?"

"What miscarriages? Of course, twenty-five to thirty percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriages." The doctor answered.

"No…._this_….a Mako poisoned embryo…as a result of someone who worked in the Shinra army ranks." Cloud clarified.

"I have, but it's been at least maybe five years. We saw lots of problems of various kinds as a result of Mako exposure in the SOLDIER ranks. I was a resident doctor then, spent some time in the Shinra Medical Ward. I'll leave you alone with your wife. Call the nurse should you or your wife need anything."

"Wait! Wait…one more thing. Here's the number of my physician. You can get all my medical records faxed over." Cloud wrote the number down for him. "Oh and uh, I'll give you any sample you want whenever you want. Just way when. I'll do anything to keep her safe." The doctor nodded at him.

"You're a good husband." He left, leaving Cloud in the room with TIfa. Cloud stood there a bit frozen for a minute. He had been slammed with a hell of a lot of information. Mako. Geostigma. Poisoning. Miscarriage. Scraping. Infected. It all flashed in his mind. Just when he thought, he had completely outrun the past. Cloud sighed nervously, his palms were clammy. He pulled the rolling chair over near Tifa's bed. He wanted to wake Tifa, he needed to talk to her and _wanted_ to talk to her. But at the same time, he knew she needed to rest.

"Tifa…" he whispered to her. "…he's wrong…I'm not a good husband…I was a fuckin' Shinra experiment gone wrong…and now you're the one payin' the price…" He buried his face in his hand. If the sound of his tears didn't wake her. The sound of his heart breaking would.


	2. On the Mend

"You're sure?" Yuffie asked. "Okay, I'll go by the house and let them get their clothes and stuff. Don't worry Cloud! They'll be fine here for tonight. And you're sure you want me to tell them what happened? Alright, Cloud. Listen, hang in there okay? Everything's gonna' be alright. Okay…bye Cloud." Yuffie hung up the phone and sighed. She looked over at Marlene and Denzel who were sitting in front of the tv eating their dinner.

"Was that Cloud?" Denzel asked. Yuffie hesitated.

"Yeah…yeah it was." She finally answered. "Listen…you two. Um…there's no easy way to tell you this; so I'm just going to come out and tell you." Yuffie turned the TV off. "Alright…Tifa had a miscarriage, you guys. Do you understand what that means?" Denzel and Marlene were quiet.

"That's what happened to Charlotte." Marlene finally said staring down at the couch. Yuffie thought for a moment. "Oh my god, she's right…Charlotte and Vincent…Charlotte had two miscarriages." Yuffie thought to herself.

"Aunt Yuffie, doesn't that mean…like…isn't it something to do with being pregnant?" Denzel asked.

"She was pregnant, honey. She lost the baby. It just means that something went wrong." Yuffie told him.

"So, we were gonna have a little brother or sister?" Denzel asked.

"That's right. But, sometimes, nature has something different in mind." Yuffie said. "Listen, Tifa didn't know she was pregnant and the doctors said that the embryo was poisoned. She would have never had the baby, you guys." She explained everything the best she could without freaking them out.

"Is Tifa sad?" Marlene asked.

"I really don't know how she feels. I imagine though, that she probably is. But this is why it's called an accident, we never plan on these kinds of things happening. We're gonna' go get you two a change of clothes because they're keeping Tifa at the hospital tonight and Cloud's staying with her. She comes home tomorrow so you can see her then. Cloud's gonna call later, okay?" Yuffie assured them. Both Marlene and Denzel shook their heads. This was some heavy news for them to take in even though the impact of what had happened wouldn't affect them as it would Cloud or Tifa.

"Hey…hey how…" Tifa yawned and blinked her eyes a couple times in the darkness. "…how long have you been here." She rolled over on her side to face Cloud.

"Here, here lay still. I've been here since this afternoon. Tifa sighed.

"I didn't know." She said. Cloud reached out for her hand. She shook her head. "…I had no…idea. Cloud…" she hesitated. Tears formed in her eyes. "…I drank….at Cid and Shera's wedding. Do you think…"

"Ssshhh…sssshhhh…Tifa, Tifa…no, no. It was doomed from the start. That didn't have anything to do with anything, Tifa. The doctor told me you would have never gone to full term because I poisoned you. It was _my_ fault…again. Something else, in our lives that was my fault." Tifa sniffed and wiped her eyes.

"Cloud, I can't…we can't…I can't deal with that right now. I can't deal with your self absorbed pity party right now. We had no way of knowing anything, Cloud. Had we actually ever _tried_ to get pregnant, we would have known what happens. But we didn't." She said. It may have come out a bit insensitive but there was also some truth to it. Cloud was a pro at feeling sorry for himself and he was also a pro at wallowing in self pity, putting his own sorrow above the rest of the world. Cloud squeezed her hand and shifted his eyes to the white sheets Tifa was lying on.

"Tifa, we can't ever have a baby. The doctor told me that earlier. It's not you, it's me. Had it not been for me, you would still have our baby." He looked up at her. Obviously, what she said hadn't completely sunk in. She shook her head. As much as he loved Tifa, he still hadn't even commented on the fact that she was feeling guilt over not knowing she was pregnant.

"Did the doctor tell you that it's likely I got pregnant when I was on that anti-biotic?" she asked. Cloud shook his head. "I wish I would have known…god I wish I would have known."

"Why? It wouldn't have done any good to know. It was doomed, Tifa." Cloud said. She shot her eyes up at him.

"Why? Why! Because, Cloud! I would have rather found out in a _doctor's office ultrasound_, that I was gonna' lose the baby instead of screaming my head off and bleeding all over the bar! Has anyone even told you that it was worst pain I've ever been in, in my life! Women who know they're pregnant go to a doctor and learn their fate. Women who know they're pregnant, take care of themselves! They don't drink coffee, they watch their diet, and they sure as hell don't drink at their friends' wedding! Are those good enough reasons for you!" Tifa laid her head back down into the pillows.

"I'm so sorry…I'm so, so sorry, Tifa. Because of me, they had to….to…scrape some kinda' shit out of you. It's not fair, Tifa. Why…is it never, ever fair for us?" Cloud wiped his own eyes dry.

"I can't believe you sometimes, Cloud. Especially right now. I've been laying here having liquids pumped into me to recover from extreme blood loss. And _this_…is how you handle it. Life, has been more than fair to us, Cloud. In fact, life has robbed others of their fairness and gave it to us…but there you sit talking about the unfortunate hand you were dealt." It irritated Tifa.

"We can never have a baby Tifa, how the hell is that fair?" Cloud demanded of her. Tifa just stared at him for a moment.

"What are you saying? We've never…_ever_ talked about the possibility of having a baby. Now, I miscarry and….what, you want a baby with me now?"

"No…" Cloud paused. "…yes…" he stopped again. "…no…I just…I guess I just wanted the possibility to be there." This was not the kind of conversation Tifa needed right now. Tifa stared at him.

"Cloud, for a year I've thought you and I had actually gotten better about talking to each other. I guess I was completely wrong. I swear, there are times I don't understand you at all." She shook her head and thought a moment. "You wanted the possibility to be there?"

"I don't know, Tifa. It's hard to explain. When the doctor looks at you and says the problem is you not your wife you suddenly miss the…you miss the option. I'm sorry, I mean, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't be doing this to you but…everything's just right here at the surface." Cloud admitted. At least he did know he shouldn't be doing this to her right now.

"Come here, come here, it's alright. I….I understand. I'm not all right about everything either." Tifa outstretched her arms. Cloud hugged her as tightly as he could without pulling on her IV. He couldn't help but cry into her shoulder. "I love you. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't tell you I can't deal with you, because I can. I'm actually quite good at handling you."

"I love you too, Tifa. I love you so much….I'm sorry…just…just bear with me." Tifa could feel his tears on her cheek.

"We need to pull it together, Cloud. We need to call Marlene and Denzel…so we need to pull it together here for a little bit." Tifa told him. Cloud let go of her and wiped his eyes.

"Yeah…yeah. I think they would like it if they could talk to you first." Cloud felt a little better after letting all that out. He sighed and sat back down in the chair beside Tifa's bed. "Yuffie may still have them at the house getting their things for the night so let's give them a few minutes." Cloud reminded Tifa. She shook her head.

"The doctor says I'll be dismissed tomorrow provided I don't have any other complications over night." Tifa said.

"Vincent. Hey. What are you in to tonight? Oh…oh well, that sounds good. Listen, I uh…I think you should come in to Midgar tomorrow. Tifa had a miscarriage. Yeah…yeah. Here's the thing…the embryo was poisoned with mako. Nope, I'm not. Yeah, I know. That's why I think you should come in to Midgar tomorrow. I think you need to talk to Cloud. Oh, and bring all those freakish pictures of your insides. I just really think you could be a great help to Cloud right now. The same thing that happened to Charlotte, happened to Tifa. I know. Yeah. No, Tifa didn't know she was pregnant. Nine weeks. She and Cloud had wild sex when she was on an antibiotic and boom. I'm just assuming it was wild, I don't know if it actually was! Yeah. Anyway, I just…I think you should be here. Okay, okay…I'll see you tomorrow, Vincent. Okay, bye." Yuffie hung up the phone. Yuffie got up from the couch and went to check on the kids. She smiled when she saw that they were both settled in doing homework. She was glad to see that they weren't sitting there looking upset or distraught over what had happened. Sure they understood what had happened, but they couldn't truly grasp it. It would have perhaps been different had they known Tifa had been pregnant.

The phone rang and Yuffie spun around to go answer it. "Hello?" Yuffie gasped a little. "Tifa! Hi! How are you? How do you feel? Are you okay? Good. Good. Yeah, they're fine. We're all here and…we went to your house to get them some clothes. I think they've just about got their homework done and I called off work tomorrow. I thought it was best since there's a lot going on, you know? Tifa, don't do that. You know how much I love you and the kids and…even stupid Cloud. Please, don't do that. I'm sure Marlene and Denzel want to talk to you so I'll put you on speaker and give them the phone." Yuffie walked into the other room. "Hey, Tifa's on the phone." Both Marlene and Denzel's faces lit up. She punched a button on her phone and threw it on the couch between Marlene and Denzel.

"Hey, you two." Tifa said as pleasantly as she could.

"Hi Tifa….hi Tifa." They answered her.

"Are you two alright?"

"Yeah." Marlene answered. "How long are you going to be in the hospital?"

"I should be home tomorrow, sweetie. You two be good, okay?" Tifa reminded them.

"Tifa, were you really going to have a baby?" Denzel asked.

"Yes, honey. I was." Neither Denzel or Marlene said anything.

"Why do things like that happen?" Denzel finally asked.

"It just…it just does. We can't predict things like this." Tifa explained to him.

"I'd be lying if I said I weren't sad. I think…I think I would have been a good big brother." Denzel told her. There was silence on the other end of the phone. Denzel didn't realize but that was enough to shake an already fragile Cloud.

"You would have, honey, You would have been the best brother ever." Tifa promised him.

"You can try again, right? Isn't that what happens? That's what Charlotte and Vincent did. They tried again…Yuffie told me that means they started having sex again." Oh Marlene…it actually made Tifa laugh and mortified her at the same time.

"Of course, Yuffie would tell you that. No, no Marlene. I can't have a baby, sweetheart. It's gonna be just us...just the four of us." Tifa assured her.

"I' sorry, Tifa. I'm sorry it happened. I love you." Marlene was quite sincere.

"I love you too. I love you both, we both do. Do you want to talk to Cloud?"

"I do! I want to say hi." Denzel insisted. Tifa laughed.

"Okay, here he is." Tifa handed the phone over. Tifa could rest assured knowing that her children…and here marriage…were anything but falling apart.


	3. Time for Thinking

Cloud unlocked the door. "Here, here…don't pick anything up. Just lay there on the couch, I'll get the bed ready for you, call the pharmacy, fix you somethin' to eat, then go get…" Tifa cut Cloud off; putting her arms around him.

"Relax…I'm not bedfast, I'm just not allowed to lift anything. You don't have to do it all. I want you to relax, so you can get some rest tonight. You hardly slept at all last night." Tifa reminded him, kissing his neck. I'll call the pharmacy and I'll get the bed ready. If you'll pick up the kids and grab some dinner while you're out; that will be just fine." Tifa promised him. Cloud shook his head. That actually made more sense than him running around like a crazy person. Cloud shook his head.

"Okay, what would you like? While I'm out, I mean?" Cloud asked her, still holding on to her.

"Hmmm….oooh get me…clam chowder and deluxe grilled cheese from the place down the street. Large…everything size large. I'm starving." Tifa said.

"You should be. You've haven't eaten a thing since yesterday morning." Cloud said taking her by the shoulders and holding her against him.

"I'll call the doctor tomorrow and schedule my follow up appointment. Will you pick up my prescriptions on your way back home?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course. I'll be back. You bundle up and relax. I won't be gone long." Cloud assured her. "I love you."

"Bye." Tifa watched him leave before heading into their bedroom to turn down their bed and create a bit of an incline for her to lay on later. She was actually glad that one of her prescriptions had a side effect of drowsiness because otherwise she had no clue how she would go to sleep on an incline. "Hi, I need to fill three prescriptions. Tifa Strife." She tugged around on her covers as she read the prescriptions off to the pharmacist.

* * *

><p>It had started to rain while Cloud was out. Yuffie met Cloud in the lobby of her building with the kids and a load of their stuff.<p>

"Cloud!" Denzel hurried toward him and threw his arms around Cloud despite how full his hands were. Marlene was close behind. "Is Tifa okay now?"

"Is she at home asleep?" Marlene asked.

"Yes, she's okay and no she's not asleep. But listen, listen you two. Don't get home and bother her a lot okay? She needs to rest. Just…just take it easy on her." Cloud told them but he knew they'd be good. They always were. "You two go get in the car okay? It's raining out there. I'll be there in just a minute. Did you thank Yuffie?"

"Yes." Both Marlene and Denzel chimed in near unison. "Bye, Yuffie!" Marlene said before hurrying to the car with Denzel close behind. Cloud just looked at her before tearing up.

"Cloud, don't do this. You know I get dreadfully uncomfortable when you do shit like this!" she said hugging him. "It's okay, Cloud. Tifa's alright. At the risk of sounding a bit harsh, it's…it's not like you and Tifa lost something you knew you had. It's not your fault Cloud so don't blame yourself for anything. Vincent's going to be in town tomorrow and he really, really wants to talk to you. So, go home…put your arms around your wife and get some sleep because I think you need to hear what he has to say." Yuffie told him. Cloud looked at her and sighed.

"Thank you for everything you've ever done for us….everything. I don't know what we'd do without you."

"It's no big deal, Cloud. You're the only one in the world who thinks it is." She told him. "I'll see ya." Cloud gave her a nod and headed back outside into the rainy evening.

"Okay, guys. Sorry about that. Do you want anything to eat? I'm going to get Tifa something and I have to pick up her prescriptions." Cloud asked.

"Cloud, did you want to have a baby? Because…I didn't think you and Tifa wanted a baby?" Marlene asked, completely avoiding the question Cloud just asked. He looked at her big brown eyes in the rearview mirror. Of all questions…that was the one he didn't want right now. Pre-married Cloud would have run, dodged the situation entirely…but Post-married Cloud knew he couldn't. Of course, he could just cry instead because that's what he was about to do. He hook his head a bit frantically, trying with all his power to keep himself together.

"I don't know…I don't….I don't know…I don't know Marlene….I don't know, okay? I don't….know…." Now, he'd have to do everything in his power to dry these weepy eyes before they arrived at the pharmacy. All three of them were silent. This would be the longest two mile car ride in the history of the world. "Wait here. I won't be long." Cloud finally said as they arrived at the pharmacy.

"You shouldn't have asked that." Denzel scolded Marlene.

"Well, you were thinking it too and I know it. They didn't want another baby anyway. You know that Tifa always said our family was complete." Marlene insisted.

"But we could have helped. You're a good babysitter, Marlene. And I could have held her a lot…or him. I'm just…I'm just a little disappointed because it would have been kind of fun to have a baby brother or sister." Denzel admitted to her.

"But Denzel, maybe….maybe Tifa lost the baby for a reason. They never, ever talked about having a baby." Marlene was too smart for her age as she turned away from Denzel and started outside at the rain hitting the parking lot. It was so obvious in so many ways that Cloud and Tifa had rubbed off these kids. Of course, most kids do turn out to be a lot like their parents. But, just in the little things that Marlene and Denel said and did…Cloud and Tifa's influence was present.

"You're cruel sometimes Marlene." Denzel said softly, hoping she wouldn't hear him.

"I'm don't being cruel, Denzel…I'm being honest." She said. That statement had Tifa written all over it. Denzel saw Cloud come out the door, returning to the car as quickly as he could.

"Okay, you two. We have one more stop to make. Do you want anything to eat?"

"No thanks." Marlene said.

"We ate at Yuffie's." Denzel told him.

"And did you finish your homework?" Cloud asked them.

"Yes." Denzel answered.

"I called off work tomorrow so I'll take you to school if you want. You can sleep an extra twenty minutes." Cloud said as he waited in a line of presumably, the tail end of evening rush hour traffic. This was a long light anyway, and the fact that he needed to turn left made it even worse. Cloud's mind whirled as he sat there in the traffic. Marlene and Denzel didn't say a word as they sat there waiting. After two light cycles, they finally made their turn. "Vincent's coming by tomorrow."

"We haven't seen Vincent in a while. Cloud, Vincent's girlfriend had a miscarriage too." Marlene reminded him.

"Yeah, she did." Cloud answered her.

* * *

><p>They were home ten minutes later. Denzel and Tifa filled their arms with their things and started up the stairs with Cloud close behind. "Now remember you two, don't do anything to get Tifa moving too much.<p>

"We know Cloud!" Denzel called down to Cloud. Marlene pushed the door open. She immediately called to Tifa.

"I'm in here, sweetie." Tifa called to Marlene. "Hey, honey. Come here." Tifa patted on the bed beside her. Marlene smiled and curled up beside her.

"I love you." Tifa said hugging her.

"I love you too. I'm glad you're okay." Marlene said.

"Oh, I'm fine, honey. I'm just tired that's all. It's all over now. Hey, Denzel. Come here." Denzel dropped his bag and smiled, hurrying over to Tifa.

"I'm glad you're home Tifa." Denzel said putting his arms around her.

"Hey, it's pouring out there. You okay?" Cloud asked her.

"Yeah, yeah…I'm fine." Tifa answered him.

"I'm going to get your dinner ready here and I'll bring it in to you." Cloud said. Marlene and Denzel stayed with Tifa for a few more minutes until they needed to get ready for school the next day and get ready for bed. It was late in the evening. Cloud returned to Tifa, her dinner spread out over a tray. "Here."

"Oh, this looks wonderful. Thank you." Tifa pulled his lips into hers.

"Here's something else. My mind's been crazy tonight but…no matter what kind of sign this was for us…no matter what lesson we're supposed to learn from this…you'll always be my wife." Cloud said pulling Tifa's engagement ring and wedding band out of his pocket and pushing them onto her finger. "…and I'll always be here. It doesn't matter that we weren't supposed to have this baby. It's no one's fault. It happened. Everyone's right. I'm…I'm blowin' this whole thing out of proportion. I love you so much. I just…I've been freakin' the hell out. Marlene asked me tonight in the car if you and I wanted to have a baby. And I…I just lost it. I didn't let it show…but inside…that killed me to hear her ask me that. And I realized that…." Cloud was about to lose it. "…all I could say was I don't know…isn't that the most horrible response a father could ever give his daughter! I said, I don't know!" Cloud pleaded with her. Tifa took his hand in hers before diving into her dinner.

"You were just telling her the first thing that came to your mind. And let's be honest…neither of us truly know how we would have felt about having a baby, Cloud. It wasn't something we ever planned. Cloud, you and I would have felt a whirlwind of emotions and fears, and…everything. I think that was a fair answer you gave her….because you don't know. Thank you for dinner and my medicine. I love you too and uh…I do, Cloud…I, do." Tifa said referring to her ring. Cloud smiled.

"I'm glad you still do. You stay quiet and eat. I'll be in the other room if you need anything. Oh, Vincent's coming by or something tomorrow. Yuffie says he needs to talk to me."

"It's about time he shows his face around here." Tifa said. It was true that Vincent had kept a low profile lately. "That will be nice to see him. Is he coming here?"

"I don't know yet. I'll find out tomorrow. Would you like to see him?"

"Yeah, yeah…that'd be nice. This is really good."

"I'm glad you like it." Cloud said leaving her alone.

It had been a hell of a day, a hell of an incident in fact. But now, Tifa was resting peacefully in her own bed. Cloud was finally resting peacefully with his own thoughts. He wasn't doubting himself nearly as much as he had been earlier in the day. Perhaps the biggest relief was Marlene and Denzel. Cloud expected them to be…well…he wasn't certain how he had expected them. He laid down on the couch and stared aimlessly at the TV, so thankful to be at home.

My apologies for the short chapter. Next one will be longer!


	4. Chapter 4

Hi there everyone! Dedicated, fans and readers! I realize it has been nearly 2 years…maybe even a little longer since I have posted or updated anything. Yes, I have been on a long hiatus indeed. I went through a period of lost inspiration and loss of motivation to write. I've left several things hanging in the air. Honestly, I'm not sure that I will complete this particular installment because while I know where I was going with it, I'm not sure I can complete it.

I have the inspiration to pump something out though! I have an idea cooking and am working on the particulars. And yes, it's another in the series of my beloved (and my baby) "Strife Family". Thank you everyone. Thank you for your kind reviews, and your readership. I am still in great appreciation and I hope you will enjoy what I'm "cooking" in my mind! Stay tuned! First chapter coming soon!


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